2007 Pop Conference Bios/Abstracts

Adam Besenyodi

Adam Besenyodi is an assistant music editor and staff writer for the online pop culture magazine, PopMatters.Panel(s):
My Hometown
Saturday, April 21, 2007, 4:15 - 6:00Abstract:

"Greatest Hints: How Michael Stanley Almost Made Cleveland Famous"
Cleveland''s answer to Bruce Springsteen, Michael Stanley was poised to break nationally in the early ''80s. As the leader of the Michael Stanley Band, he was a source of community pride for all of northeast Ohio at the beginning of that decade. They toured with the likes of the Eagles and Springsteen, set attendance and sellout records at venues across the Northcoast, and their video for "He Can''t Love You" was the 45th one played on the fledgling MTV''s first day of broadcast. After knocking around from label to label, the band appeared to be peaking with the release of You Can''t Fight Fashion in 1983. But in the middle of promoting the album, their ninth in eight years, and with their contract with EMI-America set to expire, the band was only offered a six-month extension. Stanley called their bluff and the band was unceremoniously dropped from the label, effectively killing the band''s momentum and chances at enduring national stardom. Ask any rock fan from northeast Ohio about MSB, and the first thing they''ll say is, "I''ll never understand why they didn''t make it big." And that is the question: Why didn''t Michael Stanley succeed on a national stage? Did the region''s "burning river, mistake by the lake" identity effect MSB''s ability to succeed, and what affect did the band''s failures have on the region''s identity? Even now, 20 years after Cleveland''s Heroes of the Heartland officially disbanded, Michael Stanley and the city remain inextricably linked. He has endured as a presence both in the local media and as a hometown concert favorite.